Multicultural Counseling

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that, to be an effective multicultural counselor, cultural self-awareness and sensitivity towards other cultures is important; thus, the author believes that her own cross-cultural background gives her an enormous foundation for being a multicultural counselor. The paper then describes the case of Fatima, a devout 26-year old depressed Muslim, who has strayed from her faith and is feeling rejected by Allah. The paper maintains that the best treatment approach for Fatima is religious psychotherapy, a cognitive therapy that would help express her feelings of anxiety, depression, and bereavement and reawaken her spiritual strength as a way of coping.

Table of Contents:
Cross-Cultural Upbringing
International Outlook
Fatima's Case Study
Counseling
Culturally Unbiased Understanding
Muslin Cultures and Belief
Treatment

From the Paper:

"Even within the Islamic community, there are subgroups or religious separations among the people, although most follow the Sunni traditions. This consumes about eighty-five to ninety percent of the Muslim community worldwide. Muslims are very spiritual people, who have a complete submission to god. They believe in angels, prophets and one god, whose name is Allah in Arabic, the language of Islam. Muslims also believe there is a sequence in the order of the prophets from Adam to Jesus."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Hamdan, A. (2007). A case study of a Muslim client: incorporating religious beliefs and practices. Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development. Retrieved: 12/06/08 http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-35227204_ITM
• Sue, D. W., and Sue, D. (2003). Counseling the culturally diverse: Theory and practice (4th ed.). p. 79 to 156. Retrieved: 12/06/08
• Abreu, J.H, Chung, R.H., and Atkinson, D.R.. (2000). Multicultural Counseling Training: Past, Present, and Future Directions. The Counseling Psychologist. vol. 28: pp. 641 - 656. Retrieved: 12/04/08
• Phinney, J. S. (1989). Stages of Ethnic Identity Development in Minority Group Adolescents. The Journal of Early Adolescence, Vol. 9, No. 1-2, 34-49 (1989)
• Axelson, J. (1999). Counseling and development in a multicultural society (3rd ed.)

More papers on Multicultural Counseling:

• Analytical Essay # 130561 : "Multicultural Counseling"
• Research Paper # 63221 : "Multicultural Counseling"
• Essay # 8615 : "Approaches to Multicultural Counseling"

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